SMARTGREEN URBANISM: Ahmedabad City's Perspective
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Journal P © Krishi Sanskriti Publications http: SMARTGREEN URBANISM: Ahmedabad City’s Perspective Arnab Sen1 and Prerona Mukherjee2 1,2Architect, Urban & Regional planner CEPT UNIVERSITY Kasturbhai Lalbhai Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380009 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Abstract—This research aims at understanding the significance of • Cities that facilitate and encourage more sustainable, green spaces in the city we need to identify the three types of spaces healthful lifestyles. which are primarily Lakes, waste lands or scrub lands and urban agriculture. These help in a number of ways like flood control or • Cities that emphasize a high quality of life and the even draught, improving the environment and also the quality of life. creation of highly livable neighborhoods and The existing green spaces are also to be looked into for conservation communities. and up-gradation along with the understanding of the eco system. For Re-establishing the concept of green spaces development and . The world is fast moving towards being urban where more management, with greater dependence on smart local community than 50% of the world population will be living in the so participation, with concern on the livability of local environments, a called urban areas where the people will have all the greater emphasis on creating public spaces for people is required to infrastructure and facilities. These urban spaces are growing enjoy the city of the future, to be sustainable. without any discretion and forms. In this respect the old 1. INTRODUCTION heritage cities or places which were also dense in the built form are losing their identity and the heritage is at stake. The Green Urbanism as can be perceived from the terms relates the more people pour in in these places the more pressure is green of the city, town or even the local community with the created on the infrastructure and the Quality of living and in urbanizing effects. Beatley, in his revolutionary book ‘Green turn the sustainability of these cities or towns is at stake. More Urbanism: learning from European cities’ has mentioned that pressure is on the environment to survive as the ever the vision of green urbanism includes the programs, policies increasing trend of urbanization is eating up the eco system. and creative design ideas for urban renewal and environment All these leads to the development of a more holistic and sustainability. According to Beatley, cities that exemplify sustainable approach to the urban planning which leads to the green urbanism are: concept of Green Urbanism or Eco-Cities, these are smart, sustainable and secure which fits into today’s context of India • Cities that strive to live within their ecological limits, where The Prime Minister of India proposed the making of fundamentally reduce their ecological footprints, and 100 smart cities, out of which most of them will be brownfield acknowledge their connections with and impacts on other development which makes the project even more challenging. cities and communities and the larger planet. With increasing population and area comes the problem of • Cities that are green and that are designed for and pollution, infrastructure, sustainability, public transport, function in ways analogous to nature. renewal energy, green and open spaces.. Green Network is focused on four dimensions: environment, health promotion, • Cities that strive to achieve a circular rather that a linear metabolism, which nurtures and develops positive social commitment and occupational health and safety. symbiotic relationships with and between its hinterland Greenbelts make cities more livable, affordable and transit- (whether that be regional, national, or international). friendly. Cities need to make their energy smarter: more efficient, reliable and green. • Cities that strive toward local and regional self- The open spaces may it be green or blue (lakes, ponds, etc.) sufficiency and take full advantage of and nurture are being encroached and built upon. This is hampering the local/regional food production, economy, power environment and has to be addressed in a more holistic way to production, and many other activities that sustain and improve the quality of living. support their populations. 8th International Conference On Recent Advances in “Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environmental Engineering for Sustainable Development”—ISBN: 978-81-930585-7-2 42 SMARTGREEN URBANISM: Ahmedabad City’s Perspective 43 Creating green is the call of the hour which may be addressed can cater to reduce temperature, encourage walking or even by terrace garden or creating the green spaces along the roads bicycling, acts as a screener for storms or winds, provides where bioswales can also be added to cater to the storm water shades, increases the aesthetic value of the place and in turn during the monsoons. The lakes can be developed into large adds to economy generation, recharges ground water and also green pouches which go along with the nature and creating binds the soil so that the soil is not lost or even stops inclusive places. Networking these green spaces which is in landslides, food is also produced, cuts off noise and acts as accordance to the heritage of the place adds to the value. noise screener, cuts off ultra violet rays, purifies the air and gives fresh air to breath, improves health of people and 2. BENEFITS AND TYPES OF OPEN SPACE absorbs greenhouse gases . 4. AHMEDABAD CITY ANALYSIS Ahmedabad is having an area of 464 sq. meters and located at an altitude of 49 meters. The climate is hot and dry type. The old city which is walled city was the old Ahmedabad but its ever increasing facade is reaching the villages now. A number of people co-exist here who belongs to different religion, caste and creed. They are losing the sense of place because of urbanization. The city is fast urbanizing as is evident from the increasing municipal area. The sub urban have been recently taken into the municipal area. But the major concern which lies is the ever decreasing green spaces. The people are losing their share of openness.The overall condition of Ahmedabad is depleting in terms of green open spaces. Though there are a few mill lands lying vacant but those have not been developed into something like inclusive playscape. The roads are full of private vehicles and trees are less. The lack of community level parks is easily noticed. The lakes for which Ahmedabad was previously known are getting extinct in the hands of Urbanization. In 2001 there were 137 lakes but there are only 72 lakes left now. Some of being encroached others being built upon, which happened due to the lack of regulation and awareness. The social Inclusion is also hampered because of the lack of spaces where people can interact or feel equal. The reduction in green cover also gives rise to the increased carbon footprint. The proposed DMIC corridor passes through Ahmedabad which makes it at high potential for environmental hazard but also have a potential of increase in economy. List of Initiative taken by various agencies for Enhancement of Urban Green Spaces. Initiative Issue Initiatives taken by Lack of tree cover or canopy Canopy Plantation -A Livelihood within city. Enhancement Programme with Forest State 3. METHODS/ IDEAS Scheme of Conservation. Purpose & priorities of Government motivating the initiative strengthening the people Initiative A sustainable green city is primarily based on the pillars of prizes for forestry linkages. urban planning and transport, water and biodiversity, energy tree and materials and socio-cultural features. And for creating a plantation. smart city the major components that are to be considered are Smart living, Smart people, Smart energy, Smart mobility, Smart environment, Smart economy and smart governance. The green adds to the locality in a number of ways whose catchment is even broader then imaginable. The green spaces 8th International Conference On Recent Advances in “Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environmental Engineering for Sustainable Development”—ISBN: 978-81-930585-7-2 43 44 Arnab Sen and Prerona Mukherjee There are about 100 parks in the city • Materials used for construction has to be reviewed so that of Ahmedabad. Private agencies like it dosent harm the environment Mother Dairy, Amul and Dairy Den Maintenance work on leasehold basis with the Private At present, AMC and AUDA manage parks and open spaces of existing Corporation for the development and Agencies within their respective jurisdiction. AMC has a dedicated Parks maintenance of these parks. In turn, Initiatives parks and gardens department which looks into the they grim through their profit margins implementation and maintenance of parks within its from advertisements and sale of their administrative boundaries. AUDA has environment products. department that does the implementation within its For its 60 lakh citizens, the city has only 6.17 lakh trees. Number of trees administrative boundaries. Maintenance of existing parks and in the city increased from 3.48 lakh in open spaces is as important as increasing provision of new 2005, to 6.17 lakh primarily due to the parks and open spaces. Broadly, some of existing parks and Identifying inclusion of new areas within city open spaces are in need of up gradation / refurbishment. statistics of limits. Central zone with areas like Ideally, a quality audit should be carried out for each tree through Jamalpur, Kalupur, Madhupura, Initiative by Individual Park and open space to correctly assess the Tree Census. Girdharnagar, Dudheshwar, has the AMC usability of this amenity. Presently, AMC has dedicated ( 1 tree for least number of trees at 30,584. Zone funding allocated for maintenance of parks and open spaces each 9 wise no. of trees West Zone – 1.12 within its administrative boundaries. AUDA has no dedicated Amdawadi’s) lakh South Zone – 1.05 lakh North Zone – 86,524 East Zone – 85,858 funding allocated for the implementation and maintenance of Rapidly turning into a construction parks and open spaces within its boundaries.